Cost of Synthetic Oil
#42
02-28-2009, 02:54 PM
#43
02-28-2009, 03:39 PM
#44
02-28-2009, 04:50 PM
I became an Amsoil dealer about a year ago so I could get oil at dealer cost (never sold a quart to anyone). I think the product is good, but even at cost, with shipping it's cheaper to use Mobil-1. M-1 is readily available in Wal-Mart or Advance Auto and has an exemplary record. Soooo, I'm back to Mobil-1 V-Twin 20-50 in the engine, and 75-90 in the transmission. Bought a case of 20/50 the other day so I'm covered for a while.
#45
02-28-2009, 05:15 PM
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I'm running Amsoil 20-50 V-twin because I found it on the shelf when cleaning up the garage. I used to run it in my 4 stroke MX bikes back when we were racing. Now I'm all out and will go back to M1 or maybe try Rotella Synthetic from WallyWorld on the next change.
Just put in Redline heavy in the trans and B&M trick shift in the primary (just had to try them out to see how they perform) before putting it away for winter.
Just put in Redline heavy in the trans and B&M trick shift in the primary (just had to try them out to see how they perform) before putting it away for winter.
#46
02-28-2009, 05:22 PM
I became an Amsoil dealer about a year ago so I could get oil at dealer cost (never sold a quart to anyone). I think the product is good, but even at cost, with shipping it's cheaper to use Mobil-1. M-1 is readily available in Wal-Mart or Advance Auto and has an exemplary record. Soooo, I'm back to Mobil-1 V-Twin 20-50 in the engine, and 75-90 in the transmission. Bought a case of 20/50 the other day so I'm covered for a while.
Thanks
Beary
#48
02-28-2009, 06:04 PM
Did you notice a difference between the two in the tranny? I have not tried Amsoil, but I noticed much smoother shifting Mobil 75-90. I like it a lot, but the transmission has a slight whine now whine when the oil gets up to working temp. Amsoil folks claim their oil is quieter. Did you notice that difference?
Thanks
Beary
Thanks
Beary
I'm sure that the Amsoil 75/90 would be about the same, but it's just a lot easier (and cheaper) to get Mobil-1.
I've got 4th gear whine which is normal and doesn't bother me. Quality Mobil-1 and smooth shifting is fine with me.....I don't think there's any way to quiet the whine other than turning up the stereo (or gettin' a Baker DD6
)By the way, I've had a dash mount oil temp gauge since new. Mobil-1 runs as cool as Amsoil which ran cooler than SYN-3 which ran cooler than the dino oil.
#49
02-28-2009, 06:18 PM
Seasoned HDF Member
I read all this talk about oil and i see a lot of opinions but no hard facts. After reading about oil and oil testing for about 6 months i decided to try Amsoil. I used my 2004 f150 to test their claim of 1yr or 35k miles and sent samples off to Blackstone labs. First go around i only put 20k in 13 months and my test showed that the oil was still good according to the TBN and the lab and they told me to run another 2k and send another sample. I decided to change it and now in my 6th month and 10k and the sample shows engine wear to be well below the national average wear for my type of engine and the lab also said that the oil should have no problem with handling another 6 mo of service. I will send another sample in 3 months. I am impressed with the service of this oil and don't care about price i care about performance. Now, has anyone had the same performance out of mobil 1 oil?
I use Amsoil in my bike but it gets the regular changes and i will stick with what works for me besides, i have a problem using anything from walmart on my bike.
I use Amsoil in my bike but it gets the regular changes and i will stick with what works for me besides, i have a problem using anything from walmart on my bike.
No, it's not the same oil but is every bit as effective. You can see this in the tests that I cited earlier, although I'm not sure the magazine tests are available on-line. I don't think I kept the articles from American Iron but do have those from Motorcycle Consumer News and QuickThrottle, and could dig up some quotes if anyone is interested. I did this a couple of years ago so it's probably in an old thread somewhere, most likely in the oil forum.
All of these tests made an effort to ascertain the effectiveness of MC-specific products versus so-called "car oils." There are many myths that abound about the error of running "car oil" in a MC and these tests nixed them all. In fact, M1 15w50 performed as well and contained an equivalent amount of important additives as their more-expensive V-Twin 20w50. I mentioned earlier about using a mostly "car oil" mix (not M1) in my old RK Evo and cited its long life with no engine repairs or rebuilds after 120k miles. I also cited another case of two FLH owners, one using M1 15w50 and the other Amsoil 20w50, with neither showing any cylinder or piston wear after 60k and 50k respectively.
There are many myths floating around about oil, many of them perpetrated by the manufacturers using dubious marketing claims, but the bottom line is that I have seen no evidence, conclusive or otherwise, that one oil is superior to any other in prolonging engine life. Some do some things better than others, but no one oil beats all the rest in every category. Much of this lies in the fact that oil and additive science is a balancing act, and while one formula may excel in one area it may be less effective in another.
Few will argue the benefits of synthetic over fossil oil, and I'm certainly not doing that. I'm just saying that any high-quality synthetic oil of the correct viscosity (or close) is fine for a Harley engine, and there's no evidence one will make the engine last longer than another. Claims that using Syn3, for example, makes rebuilding necessary after 30k is just ludicrous. It's amazing the crazy stuff you hear about oil, much of it inflated and not based on reality, and it has become an emotional issue like religion and politics.
All of these tests made an effort to ascertain the effectiveness of MC-specific products versus so-called "car oils." There are many myths that abound about the error of running "car oil" in a MC and these tests nixed them all. In fact, M1 15w50 performed as well and contained an equivalent amount of important additives as their more-expensive V-Twin 20w50. I mentioned earlier about using a mostly "car oil" mix (not M1) in my old RK Evo and cited its long life with no engine repairs or rebuilds after 120k miles. I also cited another case of two FLH owners, one using M1 15w50 and the other Amsoil 20w50, with neither showing any cylinder or piston wear after 60k and 50k respectively.
There are many myths floating around about oil, many of them perpetrated by the manufacturers using dubious marketing claims, but the bottom line is that I have seen no evidence, conclusive or otherwise, that one oil is superior to any other in prolonging engine life. Some do some things better than others, but no one oil beats all the rest in every category. Much of this lies in the fact that oil and additive science is a balancing act, and while one formula may excel in one area it may be less effective in another.
Few will argue the benefits of synthetic over fossil oil, and I'm certainly not doing that. I'm just saying that any high-quality synthetic oil of the correct viscosity (or close) is fine for a Harley engine, and there's no evidence one will make the engine last longer than another. Claims that using Syn3, for example, makes rebuilding necessary after 30k is just ludicrous. It's amazing the crazy stuff you hear about oil, much of it inflated and not based on reality, and it has become an emotional issue like religion and politics.
http://home.earthlink.net/~skratches...motorcycle.pdf
Last edited by skratch; 02-28-2009 at 06:24 PM.
#50
02-28-2009, 08:30 PM
I ended buying Spectro Golden 4 for $38.95 4 litre.
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